Chapter 4
Peter feels as if he could melt into the sparring mats he's standing on, never to be seen again, that would be absolutely fantastic. He can see Ned waving at him frantically through the glass and MJ next to Ned, with a knowing smirk on her face. They were the only two who weren't gapping, even the tour guide was wide eyed. The teen suddenly felt a wave of anxiousness roll over him. They were ALL staring at him.
He feels Nat's slender hand settle on his shoulder, "Do you know these twerps Peter? Because they seem to know you."
Peter drew in a shaky breath, "Unfortunately. Seems as though that secret field trip destination was to here. Jesus."
"Well at least you're not missing out on anything actually interesting."
"Sure," he quipped, "but now my AcaDec team is literally touring my home, it’s a home invasion, and to make things even more unexplainable, they just watched major nerd Peter Parker pin the Black Widow in a fight. You might as well just kill me now Nat."
"I don't think so Peter," Nat replied, voice smug. Her tone lead him to diver his attention from his shocked classmates to the scheming look on the spy's face.
"Nat. Whatever plan you're forming in that devious brain of yours, please, please don't," Peter practically begged, knowing the consequences that face had brought about in the past, but it was too late. Nat's hand had left his shoulder and she was making her way across the floor to the viewing box. This movement spurred both Peter and the tour guide into action. Peter darting after the former spy in some attempt to stop her while the tour guide, speaking in unheard words, tried to somewhat control the tour group who had broken from their shock into mild chaos. Nat reached the door to the box, opening it, stepping inside and instantly undermining the poor tour guide's authority by commanding the room into silence.
"Well good morning everyone, we weren't expecting an audience but I hope that you enjoyed watching our sparring session. Miss tour guide, I don't believe we've met before, what's your name?" Damn Nat was smooth, instantly into a personable person that was perfect for a profession none other than a tour guide.
"Ah- S-Sarah, ma'am," the tour guide stuttered, cheeks blushing so bright they matched her red hair. Peter face palmed from where he was standing in the doorway. Nat was out to embarrass him by commandeering his AcaDec teams tour. The eyes of the other teens in the room were shifting between him and Nat unsure who to focus on.
"Well Sarah, it's a pleasure to meet you, I was wondering if Peter and I would be able to hijack your tour for a while. You see this is actually Peter's Academic Decathlon team, isn't it Peter?" Nat turned to him, expectant look in her face.
All Peter could do was nod along with Nat's statement, inwardly cursing the spy. She's evil incarnate, the last thing Peter wanted to do was join the field trip that he hadn't been allowed on in the first place. Looking at his classmates, Ned looked absolutely ecstatic, he knew that Peter had an 'internship' at Stark Tower as Peter had brought him to the Tower a couple of times and he of course knew about Spider-Man. MJ was wholly focused on Nat and Peter knew that she was absolutely beside herself, Nat was MJ's hero. Neither of his friends knew about why he was actually at the Tower though. They didn't know who he really is. Everyone else, including Mr. Harrington, looked baffled and then his gaze fell on Flash who was glaring at him, anger and annoyance clear on the other boys face.
"That's okay with me ma'am," Sarah managed after a second, "we were going to visit the Hall of Hero's next, although I'm sure it won't be nearly as interesting now that we've met an Avenger in the flesh."
"Well we don't want to disappoint the kiddo's, what if I were to show you around the Avenger's floors as well, give the tour that edge?" The spy followed smoothly.
Sarah appeared gobsmacked but answered in approval. Nat then pushed Peter towards where Ned and MJ were standing, then taking total control of the tour. She began to give a short speech about the training room.
"Oh My God Peter," Ned whispered, "you know the Black Widow? Your internship is awesome!"
The teen just sighed, "Yeah Ned. Awesome."
"And you get to spar with the Black Widow to? I know you know Tony Stark as well. Do you know any other Avengers? Have you met Bruce Banner? Do you get to work with Bruce Banner? Oh My God," Ned rambled.
Thankfully MJ decided to step in, "If you don't shut up Peter won't be able to answer any of your questions. We're moving on anyway Nerd."
True to MJ's word the tour group was moving closer towards the elevators, Nat still going on about the features of the training room. Mr. Harrington gestured to Peter to step aside for a second. As the rest of the class moved on the teen walked up to his teacher, shoulders hunched.
"Peter, I must say that I wasn't expecting to see you today. Mind filling me in on why and how you are here?" Mr. Harrington spoke kindly, but there was still an obvious tone of reprimand in his voice.
"Well sir, you said that I had the day off so I asked my boss if I could spend my day working on my internship here." Peter honestly didn't expect this answer to go over well.
"Peter I have heard the rumours about your internship. Other than being here at this very moment, do you have any documents to prove the validity of this internship because you really should have registered this with the school."
At that moment Peter breathed a sigh of relief, thanking the gods that his mum was so organised. "Yes sir. FRIDAY?"
"Yes Peter?" the A.I. replied, startling the teacher who was obviously unused to the omnipresent assistant.
"Would you mind pulling up the documents with the details of my internship on them, this is my teacher and he wants to check them. Could you please also register the internship formally with my school?" He asked politely.
"Certainly Peter," she replied pulling up holographic copies for Mr. Harrington to view, "would you like me to inform the Boss Lady about registering the internship with your school?"
"That would be amazing FRI, thank you."
"My pleasure Peter."
When Mr. Harrington finished looking at the documents with astonishment, Peter flicked them away and the documents dissolved into the air.
"Well Peter," Mr. Harrington began, "there certainly seems enough evidence to prove your internship, but I have to ask. How on earth did you manage to get a Stark Industries internship, these positions were like gold even when I was in college."
Peter just shrugged, "Just luck I guess. Somebody high up must have taken a liking to a robot I entered into a competition. But if that's all okay, maybe we should get going, they seem to be waiting for us."
"So they are," the teacher replied and both of them moved to where the AcaDec team was waiting in front of the elevator. Teens and adults alike then piled into the, thankfully, large elevator.
As the doors closed Nat announced, still in her tour guide persona, "Seeing as how you've seen the public training room, how would you all like to visit the private training rooms as well? There might even be a chance to meet another Avenger."
The elevator filled with cheers and Nat pressed the button that would take them to the firing range.